Theo Von‘s introduction to his Ben Affleck interview sounds like this: “Today’s guest is an acTERR, a wriTERR, a direcTERR…he’s won an Oscar AWARRD. You know his movies, like Good Will Hunting, Gawn GRRRL, BatMAN…the list goes AWWN…”

The guy sounds under-educated, yokelish…like a mechanic, like the manager of a car wash in Akron, like a liquor store clerk in western Massachusetts, like an oil-field roughneck. Plus he’s kinda MAGA.

From a 4.23.25 N.Y. Times profile by Jon Caramanica:

“As an interviewer and the host of This Past Weekend, a podcast that routinely garners millions of views and listens, ranking among the most watched shows in the country, Von’s chameleonic chill is both his superpower and his mask. The result is a kind of lenticular effect — depending on the week, he’s a sophisticate or a naïf, one of the bros or a sly interloper.

“Von, an aww-shucks 45-year-old with hair somewhere between shag and mullet and a persistent mien of latent mischief, is often lumped into the inelegantly grouped ‘manosphere,’ a loose aggregation of podcast hosts and social media figures — Joe Rogan being the sun of that solar system — whose politics lean rightward and whose attitude is allergic to doubt. They have built, in short order, a parallel mainstream media ecosystem, with personality-driven platforms that often let guests hawk their viewpoints unchecked, creating an echo chamber of boast and brag.”

You know one of Von’s favorite expressions? “Aaagghh.” He also says “wow” and “yeah, dude.”